Lee Je-hoon, Kim Dae-myung, Ahn Hyun-ho, and Cha Kang-yoon show off their extraordinary teamwork.

In the JTBC weekend drama ‘The Art of Negotiation’ (directed by Ahn Pan-seok, written by Lee Seung-young), Sanin Group M&A team leader Yoon Joo-no (played by Lee Je-hoon), lawyer Oh Soon-young (played by Kim Dae-myung), section chief Kwak Min-jung (played by Ahn Hyun-ho), and intern Choi Jin-soo (played by Cha Kang-yoon) show off their extraordinary teamwork as time goes by.

According to the production team, Yoon Joo-no first announced the start of the M&A team when he returned to Korea after receiving an SOS from Sanin Group Chairman Song Jae-sik (played by Sung Dong-il), who was rumored to be in crisis. After entering the country, Yoon Joo-no personally visited Oh Soon-young and Kwak Min-jung, whom he had worked with, to cast them, and finally accepted intern Choi Jin-soo, who had volunteered for the M&A team, thus completing the team composition.

Yoon Joo-no then announced that he would sell Sanin Construction, Sanin’s biggest cash cow, in order to resolve Sanin’s 11 trillion won in debt. This was met with strong opposition from the executives, and Chairman Song Jae-sik even demanded a higher price, signaling that things would be difficult.

However, Yoon Joo-no did not give in, and put his heads together with his team members to find a solution. When Yoon Joo-no drew up the big picture of the sale, Kwak Min-jung meticulously took care of the mathematical and detailed aspects, and Oh Soon-young reviewed whether there were any legal issues, so each of them fulfilled their responsibilities in their respective positions. As a result, the M&A team not only sold Sanin Construction above market price, but also resolved resident issues related to redevelopment, leaving behind an unprecedented and heartwarming M&A case.

The next breakthrough that Yoon Joo-no chose was to enter the e-commerce business, which was Sanin‘s Achilles’ heel. Due to Song Jae-sik‘s misjudgment, Sanin’s e-commerce business had minimal influence compared to the size of the group, so it was expected to have considerable risk as a latecomer. Despite these concerns, Yoon Joo-no once again turned the company upside down by declaring that he would acquire Chacha Games, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, as a procedure for expanding the e-commerce business.


Despite the reactions within the company, Yoon Joo-no demonstrated his negotiation skills in various ways in order to sign a contract with Chacha Games. While protecting the pride of the CEO of Chacha Games, he tried to persuade them and at the same time figured out the story behind it and began to attack them. In addition, Jin-soo Choi, as befitting the MZ generation, began to demonstrate his capabilities within the team by adding his extensive knowledge of games and obtaining information through a friend who was a game consultant. After that, Jun-no Yoon successfully acquired Chacha Games by lowering the price as if it were nothing. In addition, Soon-young Oh gave us a thrill by pressuring the CEO of DC Games, who had stolen Chacha Games’ work, to obtain development support funds.

The San-in M&A team then left for Japan on a mission to secure supplies for the listing of Wind, a subsidiary and bicycle manufacturer. Due to cultural differences and conflicts of interest, the contract with the manufacturer Shimizu did not go through easily, and to make matters worse, Jin-soo Choi revealed the team’s confidential deadline, driving them into an even more difficult situation. In a situation where they were cornered, Oh Soon-young and Kwak Min-jung used Choi Jin-soo, who had formed a bond with the youngest Shimizu employee, to find out what they wanted.

Despite this resourcefulness, the contract fell through when Naito (played by Aoki Munetaka), the head of the production plant, objected just before signing the contract. Since there would be no future if Sanin‘s stock price fell, Yoon Joo-no returned to Korea and came back, even going through the trouble of coming back again, to find a way to move Naito’s heart. The sincerity of respect for Naito‘s father’s company Daichi, which Wind acquired, and the craftsmanship of Naito‘s father and son resonated across borders.

In this way, the Sanin M&A team is making the impossible possible with each team member faithfully performing their roles, led by the excellent leadership of Team Leader Yoon Joo-no. As soon as the contract with Shimizu was signed, tensions were rising in Korea as news spread that Chairman Song Jae-sik had borrowed money using stocks as collateral. Indeed, it is curious whether Yoon Joo-no and the team members will be able to overcome this crisis as well.

However, ‘The Art of Negotiation’ is a drama, a crisis overcoming narrative that is close to fantasy. The actual corporate environment is different from the content in the work. This should not be confused with reality. It is just that various devices are set up to show the protagonist’s narrative as an all-round problem solver in any crisis, but in the actual corporate environment, such sequential crises or illegal acts are not tolerated.

Meanwhile, ‘The Art of Negotiation’ Episode 7 will air at 10:30 PM on the 29th.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com Reporter projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.